ASU, GCU basketball schedule 1st home-and-home series as DI teams

The Sun Devils and Antelopes will finally face off on the hardwood.

Arizona State and Grand Canyon announced Friday that they will play a home-and-home series over the next two seasons.

The series will start off at GCU on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 4 p.m. The Antelopes will visit Desert Financial Arena in Tempe in December 2021.

“We look forward to starting a series with Grand Canyon at GCU this season,” Hurley said in a statement. “(First-year head coach) Bryce Drew and his family are well known in the college basketball world, and as we welcome him to the Valley, it made sense to have an efficient home-and-home with his program.”

GCU and ASU have not played one another since the Antelopes entered Division I play for the 2013-14 season but last held an exhibition game in November 2011.

“We are thrilled for the opportunity to play a series with Arizona State,” Drew said in a release. “Bobby Hurley has built one of the better programs in the country, and this will be a series that the Phoenix area will be very excited for.”

Arizona State went 20-11 in 2019-20 and appeared set for a third straight NCAA Tournament bid before coronavirus ended the Sun Devils’ postseason during the Pac-12 Tournament.

Grand Canyon is coming off a 13-17 season, its first losing campaign since it joined the WAC. The Antelopes fired head coach Dan Majerle after his seventh season leading the team and hired Drew in March.

“This is a great opportunity for two local programs with history of success in collegiate basketball to finally meet on the court,” Arizona State president Michael Crow said in the release. “We hope it is the beginning of a new spirited rivalry between universities who have long contributed to the culture of the Valley, now in a new and entertaining way.”

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